A few days before Higher Word\u2019s first concert in October 2024, co-founder Spencer McIntosh went to mass at St. Anthony of Padua in Soho where the performance would be held.<\/p>\n
The newly formed orchestra, which plays classical music through a Catholic lens<\/a>, had sold about 80 tickets for their inaugural performance. And during mass, McIntosh counted attendees to get a sense of the space \u2014about 150 people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so sparse,\u201d said the 39-year-old. He was \u201cdistraught. I was like, \u2018this is the biggest mistake I ever made in my entire life\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The Catholic Orchestra Higher Word perform at their 2026 Easter concert, \u201cEver Ancient Ever New\u201d Courtesy of Higher Word<\/p>\n They had to pay musicians, vendors and the restaurant for the afterparty. The way things were going, they were looking at a loss of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n He and his co-founder Nick Sam sought counsel from their friend, Fr. Jonah Teller, a charismatic young priest from St. Joseph\u2019s in Greenwich Village. Teller advised them to write in sharpie that they would \u201cfill the church\u201d and hang the sign on their wall.<\/p>\n They did as instructed. Then they prayed and marketed their tails off. At showtime, 400 people showed up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole thing was a miracle,\u201d said McIntosh.<\/p>\n Two years in, those miracles keep happening.<\/p>\n Composer and Higher Word conductor Jacob Beranek believes the orchestra is drawing an audience because they are in search of beauty in a chaotic world. Courtesy of Higher Word<\/p>\n Only with bigger audiences, more ambitious programming and even recognition from legendary composer Bill Conti\u00a0<\/a> \u2014 who wrote the iconic \u201cGonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)\u201d among other Hollywood scores \u2014 who has tapped them, along with sax playing priest Fr. James O\u2019Reilly, to record his new original composition.<\/p>\n On Friday night, they\u2019ll be performing at St. Jean Baptiste with a program based on the Feast of the Guardian Angels (no word on whether Curtis Sliwa<\/a> will be in attendance).<\/p>\n Such sustained growth would suggest there is far more than divine intervention at play. Perhaps a group of elite musicians led by Juilliard educated composer and conductor Jacob Beranek and Christa Dalmazio, who attended the Manhattan School of Music, is resonating because it\u2019s an experience for the mind and soul \u2014 something resonating in our current landscape.<\/p>\n Old St. Patrick\u2019s was packed with attendees for Higher Word\u2019s Easter performance last Spring. Courtesy of Higher Word<\/p>\n Dalmazio believes the chaos of our modern world, including the isolation from COVID-19, the exaltation of politics and the replacement of art with efficiency, have sent people in search of beauty.<\/p>\n Beranek agrees. \u201cOur souls yearn for something bigger, something more beautiful, something higher than just the purely functional or ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Much has been made of the Catholic Renaissance we\u2019re seeing around the world and here in New York City, where last year some parishes reported packed masses and a large uptick in converts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our first American Pope<\/a> has put the faith front and center, while Catholic influencers<\/a>, both lay and religious fill our social media feeds. Catholicism is coursing through our cultural veins, and Higher Word is a clear expression of that.<\/p>\n The non-profit organization started in 2023 as a Catholic salon of sorts. A group of friends would meet to drink wine and listen to talks from their favorite priest, Fr. Brian Graebe.<\/p>\n Jacob Beranek hugs from Christa Dalmazio after Higher Word\u2019s Easter concert. Courtesy of Higher Word<\/p>\n The gatherings grew in popularity and numbers, moving to Sam\u2019s 2,500 square foot Chelsea apartment. At one event, someone proposed a small musical performance, and they too, began to get more elaborate and outgrow Sam\u2019s digs.<\/p>\n